Editor's Letter: The aid flotilla

last updated 8 January 2015

The news about the fatal clash between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian activists on an aid flotilla had barely broken last week when the comments started lighting up Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, blogs, and other media channels. Only the barest facts were known, but that didn’t matter much, because when it comes to the emotional debate over Israel, facts are not essential. So it was with great conviction and sincere outrage that one side could declare that Israel had savagely attacked a convoy of defenseless peace activists, while the other was just as sure that Israel had been provoked by a dangerous mob in common cause with Islamists bent on Israel’s destruction. Soon enough, information would emerge indicating that the story wasn’t so black and white. For starters, the ships had turned down an offer to bring their supplies to an Israeli port for inspection, because the organizers’ agenda included breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza. And Israel had been warned repeatedly by the U.S. to use “caution and restraint” when dealing with a flotilla full of civilians.

But such details have had little impact on the competing narratives, because information that doesn’t conform is automatically dismissed as propaganda. The complex truth is that the terrorists who run Hamas really are committed to killing Israelis, while innocent Gazans really are suffering under the blockade. But in a conflict this old and this bitter, merely acknowledging the humanity on the other side is a sign of weakness. To those who’ve staked out their positions, it’s the same story every time: noble victims under attack by bloodthirsty monsters.