There Is a Method to Israel's Madness ( Pepe Escobar)

[Jefferson23]

By Pepe Escobar

A new Middle East is being born - and there seems to be only one place for Israel: isolation. With that comes an inevitable, somewhat crazed approach to diplomacy.

June 10, 2010 |

Why would Israel, in a deliberate and methodical operation planned over a week in advance - according to statements by senior Israeli military commanders made in Hebrew-language media days before the attack - target an unarmed ship on a humanitarian mission flying the flag of Comoros? (Unlike Turkey, Comoros is a party of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over war crimes committed on vessels of member states.)

Why would Israeli commandos shoot nine unarmed activists dead with nine millimeter bullets at close range, between the eyes, in the top of the head, in the back of the head, in the chest, in the back, and in the legs - including an American citizen? (The final death toll may be 15, as six activists are still missing; Israeli army radio reported 16 dead early last Monday when the attack took place on the Mavi Marmara, a part of the Free Gaza flotilla.)

How could Israel think it would get away with it by censoring video and photos - and then getting away with it all over again by refusing an international, independent commission to investigate the incident and subsequent cover-up?


Why, geopolitically, would Israel declare war on the de facto international community - from Muslim nations to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member-countries to global public opinion?

http://www.alternet.org/world/147169/there_is_a_method_to_israel%27s_madness/?page=entire

[OrpheusSang]

1. Not trying to appease the international community

A great article in http://www.haaretz.com/ argued that the problem is that Israeli politicians are not trying to appeal to the international community. They're too caught up in appealing to the hysterical tight within Israel and do not seem aware of how the rest of the world sees them.

[teknomanzer]

5. We've been there and done that too. n/t

[leveymg]

2. Doesn't seem to have really impacted US policy. Sanctions for Iran, not Israel, right?

Still the same old good-cop, bad-cop routine. No real change in how we deal with the region.

[Jefferson23]

3. Well, that approach is catching up with us. n/t

[leveymg]

4. But, they still behave as if nobody's caught onto their game.

There's less to the rift than meets the eye.

[EFerrari]

6. I doubt the IDF would have attacked the Mavi Marmara

without tacit approval.

But there is a sense that Turkey is the new kid in town. I suppose DC can use Israel as a foil to tamp down Turkey's regional ambitions a bit but it's hard to see that working out as a long term strategery.