Israel vs. Reason and Evidence

Whenever Israel is the subject of discussion, reason and evidence become pointless.

I have been discussing the Israeli raid / flotilla incident that occurred last week on another blog. Israel has been blockading Gaza for over 3 years. Many supporters of Israel have argued that Israel’s blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from entering Gaza. I pointed out that:

1. Israel could inspect all ships and let them pass – demonstrating that the blockade is not needed to keep weapons from reaching Gaza by sea; and

2. Israel’s government is on record as stating that the purpose of the blockade is to create enough human misery to force the Palestinians to elect another government      (not Hamas). (Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister told a British reporter that “the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government.

But my interlocuters refused to abandon the safety defense.

How can one cling to a position that makes no sense on its face and also contradicts the stated rationale provided by the policy makers themselves?

I guess reason is no match for tribalistic loyalty!

But I already knew that.

Joe H.